Natural history, morphological evolution, and speciation genetics in the nematode genus Caenorhabditis.  In particular I am interested in develomental constraint and the evolution of adaptive gene complexes.  Recent projects include characterizations of nematode-isopod associations, the evolution of caudal papillae pattern in male nematodes, and characterizations of post-zygotic reproductive isolation mechanisms in various combinations of Caenorhabditis species.

Representative Publications

• G. W. Stegeman, S. E. Baird, W. S. Ryu and A. D. Cutter  (2019)  Genetically Distinct Behvioral Modules Underlie Natural Variation in Thermal Performance Curves.  G3 doi.org/10.1534/g3.119.400043
• A. L. Berenson & S. E. Baird (2018)  Regulation of the sperm-to-oocyte transition in Caenorhabditis briggsae hermaphrodites by the Cbr-met-2 and Cbr-fem-3 genes.  Mol. Reproduction & Development 85: 532-542.  doi:10.1002/mrd.22991
• V. Ragavapuram, E. E. Hill and S. E. Baird  (2016)  Suppression of F1 male-specific lethality in Caenorhabditis hybrids by cbr-him-8.  Genes, Genomes, Genetics 6: 623 - 629.  doi: 10.1534/g3.115.025320
• S. E. Baird and S. R. Seibert  (2013)  Reproductive isolation in the Elegans-Group of Caenorhabditis.  Natural Science 5(4A): 18 – 25.
• S. E. Baird and R. Stonesifer (2012)  Reproductive isolation in Caenorhabditis briggsae: dysgenic interactions between maternal- and zygotic-effect genes result in a delayed development phenotype.  Worm 1(4): 1 – 7.
• Ross, J. A., D. C. Koboldt, J. E. Staisch, H. M. Chamberlin, B. P. Gupta, R. D. Miller, S. E. Baird and E. S. Haag  (2011)  Caenorhabditis briggsae recombinant inbred line genotypes reveal inter-strain incompatibilities and inter-species divergence of recombination rate.  PLoS Genetics, 7(7): e1002174.
• Woodruff, G. C., O. Eke, S. E. Baird, M.-A. Félix and E. S. Haag  (2010)  Fertile interspecies hybrids in Caenorhabditis and their implications for the evolution of hermaphroditism.  Genetics 186: 997 - 1012.
• Koboldt, D. C., J. Staisch, B. Thillainathan, K. Haines, S. E. Baird, H. M. Chamberlin, E. S. Haag, R. D. Miller and B. P. Gupta  (2010)  A toolkit for rapid gene mapping in the nematode Caenorhabditis briggsae.  BMC Genomics 11:236
• Hillier, L. W., R. D. Miller, S. E. Baird, A. Chinwalla, L. A. Fulton, D. C. Koboldt, R. H. Waterston  (2007)  Comparison of C. elegans and C. briggsae genome sequences reveals extensive conservation of chromosome organization and synteny.  PLoS Biology 5(7): e167.
• Dolgin, E. S., B. Charlesworth, S. E. Baird and A. D. Cutter  (2007)  Inbreeding and outbreeding depression in Caenorhabditis nematodes.  Evolution 61: 1339–1352.
• Cutter, A. D., S. E. Baird and D. Charlesworth  (2006)  High nucleotide polymorphism and rapid decay of linkage disequilibrium in wild populations of Caenorhabditis remanei.   Genetics 174: 901-913.
• Baird, S. E. and H. M. Chamberlin  (2006)  Caenorhabditis briggsae methods, WormBook, ed. The C. elegans Research Community, WormBook, doi/10.1895/wormbook.1.128.1
• Baird, S. E., C. R. Davidson and J. C. Bohrer  (2005)  The genetics of ray pattern variation in Caenorhabditis briggsae.  BMC Evolutionary Biology 5: 3